Sunday School

I’m not sure even where to begin to unravel that mess.

In my masters degree I studied American human rights and the justice system writing my masters thesis on the American prison system, the relationship between poverty in the US and levels of crime, (especially compared with other countries) and the death penalty.

Why don’t you begin with j…[Read more]

@Davis

I admire your intellect. But the way that you strung all of those ideas together trying to connect them… was utterly false. I’m not sure even where to begin to unravel that mess.

Well said and so very true. But why is it like that?

It comes down to a different mentality per law and justice. America is extremely unique in many ways. There is an almost fetish for people in uniform (“thank you for your service”, public police funerals, virtual impunity for police abuse, respect of authority, admiration for personal…[Read more]

But then we would have a scenario where the shooter, who had the right to bear arms, shot another man who also had the right to bear arms and they could both defend their reasons for bearing those arms in public in the first place because they felt equally threatened from the recent events in El Paso.

EXACTLY!!!!

And all this talk of him being so…[Read more]

@Robert

Well said and so very true. But why is it like that?

Because we’re stupid. And I don’t trust anybody anymore. Haven’t you noticed? Our country is in a 21st-century Civil War

RE: But what he did was extremely reckless and potentially lethal.

But unfortunately, I think it’s things like this that are going to be what it takes to actually change the gun laws. Sad but true. That’s the country we live in….

RE: Stampedes happen all the time. He also very easily could have been shot by the police (if he were black I dou…[Read more]

It’s not just insensitive and stupid (and yes I agree the insensitivity is besides the point but it does show that he was doing this for an ironic disingenuous kicks and not a concerted effort to evaluate a constitutional law). It was extremely dangerous (people get hurt and even die during panics and stampedes and police shoot innocent people…[Read more]

I agree completely that it was an idiotic thing for him to do. But he still did nothing illegal. It was in poor taste, to say the least and I would have little sympathy for him if another citizen shot him. For the sake of argument lets say he does not die in the shooing. But then we would have a scenario where the shooter, who had the right to…[Read more]

It’s sad that I live in this country where in order to feel safe and we have to feel like owning a gun is our best option.

Well said and so very true. But why is it like that?

I don’t give a toss that he had a gun with him, because if a state wants to have a law where people can walk around with weapons of murder on them and the inevitable accidents and rampages that happen, that is their business. Whatever. But what he did was extremely reckless and potentially lethal. Stampedes happen all the time. He also very easily…[Read more]

Don’t get me wrong, I understand to a point the NRA point of view. For a while I was seriously considering getting my license to carry for protection… But I quickly realized (And with the advice of some experts on the subject), that to be a responsible gun owner I needed far more professional training than I could afford to make it safe. And bec…[Read more]

Will the NRA be forced to support a domestic terrorist in order to defend the right to bear arms?

Fucking exactly!  I’m getting out my popcorn I don’t know about you… LOL

While I suspect his motivation was to ensure his right to bear arms I think he has inadvertently shown the law has an absurdity to it because Missouri calls itself “gun-friendly”.

He has not broken the law. If he did exactly the same thing a month ago, nothing would have happened. If he waited for four months I suspect nothing would have hap…[Read more]

Causing “panic” is not domestic terrorism. It would maybe be disturbing the peace but even then….he was just strolling through Walmart executing his right to bear arms. Isn’t that the right the NRA so vehemently protects?

They charged him with “domestic terrorism.” What he did does not fall under the definition of domestic terrorism. I hope he sues the living shit out of them and proves the point that people have been trying to make for decades now. He was fully within his rights. It doesn’t matter what happened earlier that week. He didn’t break the law. I think w…[Read more]

It really depends on the state law. Which I know nothing about in the US let alone Missouri. In Spain he’d be arrested for terrorism and not a soul would have the slightest sympathy for the stupid arrogant idiot. I know that in other countries knowingly causing a panic (when it can easily be avoided) is a crime. He was also wearing body armour and…[Read more]

I think that is a reasonable assessment of how things are. Do you reckon this guy has broken the law by walking into a Walmart with loaded weapons? I will agree he was foolhardy, if not stupid or at the very least insensitive in doing so given recent events. But if he has not broken the law then he will sue for having his constitutional rights…[Read more]

Another interesting thing about American gun culture…the government sells military surplus weapons to the public and encourages marksmanship and gun safety. The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has been around for decades. The arsenal of democracy is a long standing value. The Swiss military would actually let soldiers take their guns home with them.

Guns are too easy to get now, relatively speaking.

Back in the 60s/70s when there was 200 million guns instead of 35o million around we didn’t have this high frequency of mass shootings. In fact a lot of high schoolers had gun racks in their pickup trucks-in the parking lot at school. Semi-auto rifles and pistols with up to 30 round magazines…[Read more]

In general only a few states allow a felon to own a gun or ammo. So there is a “light” background check. For handguns some states have a three day waiting period from when you purchase to when you receive the gun.  You can even order ammo online and have it shipped.